In the Gospel according to St John, Christ has said: ‘Except
a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven.’ [St John 3, 5] The priests have interpreted this into meaning that
baptism is necessary for salvation. In another Gospel it is said: ‘He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire’. [St Matthew 3, 11]
Thus the water of baptism and the fire are one! It cannot
mean that the ‘water’ spoken of is physical water, for it is the direct
opposite of ‘fire’, and one destroys the other. When in the Gospels, Christ
speaks of ‘water’, He means that which causes life, for without water no
worldly creature can live—mineral, vegetable, animal and man, one and all,
depend upon water for their very being. Yes, the latest scientific discoveries
prove to us that even mineral has some form of life, and that it also needs
water for its existence.
Water is the cause of life, and when Christ speaks of water,
He is symbolizing that which is the cause of Everlasting Life.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, Nov. 9, 1911, ‘Paris Talks’)
